Radio talk groups are typically pre-defined and static and can not be changed by any individual subscriber radio user within a radio communication system. In a trunked radio system for example, if a radio is programmed with a particular talk group that is linked to a particular radio channel selection, the radio user can not alter the members assigned to that talk group. Although preprogrammed talk groups are a valuable feature, especially among radio users who work in teams (e.g., building security guards, etc.); preprogrammed talk groups have their limitations.
At times it may become desirable for a particular radio user to establish a radio talk group that includes select radio users located in the system. For example, a supervisor may want to speak to a few select subordinates. Some solutions to the above problem have come in different forms. One feature found in trunked radio systems called “Dynamic Regrouping”, is a way by which an operator at the fixed-end (e.g., at the central controller) of a radio communication system, can group two or more radio users together. The fixed-end operator can cancel the dynamic regrouping when the radio users no longer need to communicate with each other. The main problem with dynamic regrouping is that it requires an operator at the fixed-end to set up the group. Although acceptable for private trunked systems (e.g., city fire department system), is not practical in a large public metropolitan radio communication system.
Another solution for providing dynamic talk group is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,646, entitled “Method for establishing a user defined radio talk group in a trunked radio communication system”, assigned to Motorola, Inc. In the above patent, radio users who want to be part of the same radio talk group all select the same virtual talk group number at their respective radios. Once all of the radio users who want to be part of the virtual group have selected the same virtual talk group number, they all can talk and listen to their group conversation using the assigned virtual talk group. One drawback to this invention is that each of the radio users who wants to be part of the talk group must perform some action, in this case select the same virtual talk group number, to become affiliated with the talk group. This thus requires some coordination between the potential group members prior to the talk group being set up. For example, this may require the potential virtual talk group members to communicate with each other before hand and coordinate when they will all transfer to the virtual talk group. Given the above, a need exists in the art for a method for dynamically configuring a group call by a single device.